February 28 Newsletter

Dear Parents,

I hope everyone had a wonderful week for winter break.  The break always comes at just the right time but it's always nice to get back into a routine.  The students are already back to working hard and learning lots!

As soon as we returned to school, we started working on our fine arts unit with a focus on art from the seven different continents.  The children are learning about various kinds of art and have already started painting their self-portraits for our Kindergarten Museum.  We started with art from North America (we made dream catchers and tipis) and will be moving on to South America next.  We are planning on having the Kindergarten Museum on Friday, April 3rd, probably from about 9:00-9:45am. More information will be sent home next week.  Creating the artwork for the Kindergarten Museum is a lot of work, but worth every minute of it!  We hope you will be able to visit our Museum!

We celebrated our 100th day of school on Tuesday.  We did a lot of counting!  We made 100th day hats with 100 dots and did some math activities with a hundreds chart.  We also wrote a class book about what we would do with $100.  The students have accomplished so much in 100 days and should be very proud of how far they have come!

We explored some really exciting “Funomenas” this afternoon.  The students got to rotate around to four different Kindergarten classrooms to learn about and explore different “Pushes and Pulls experiments.”  The activities included shuffleboard, magnetic gears, stomp rockets, and fan experiments.  Earlier this week, we enjoyed a Magnet Show with Mr. Musselman from the Burlington Science Center.  The students loved learning about poles and seeing magnetic poles repelling and attracting. 

The students have worked on a class book about what they want to do when they are older and they are beginning an individual book all about who they are.  They have also been enjoying reading books in small groups for guided reading.

Our exciting news was that Ms. P. brought us our pet snake this week!  The students loved learning about Galileo the corn snake and many even dared to touch/hold him!  Galileo will stay in our class for a few weeks.  We are looking forward to learning more about snakes and watching a snake feeding in the next week or two!  The students should be proud of how hard they worked on their persuasive letters to Ms. P!

Please be sure to practice the Kindergarten sight words and addition and subtraction fluency facts as often as possible.  It will be a huge help!  I will be assessing the students soon!  Thanks!

I sent home information before vacation about how to log in to Clever, the app/website we use for ST Math, along with the badge students can scan for logging in.  I will be sending home additional information early next week with instructions for logging in to Clever without the badge.  Our technology teacher is looking for feedback about using Clever at home.  Can you please try logging your child into Clever next week and just let me know how it goes?  We want to make sure it is accessible to everyone.  Thanks in advance!

Have a good weekend!

Melanie Duncan

PS...We will be going to the library on Wednesday.  Please be sure to return your child’s library book by then.  Thanks!

Also, the next Francis Wyman Used Bookstore is Wednesday, March 11th.  Students are welcome to bring either a quarter or a book to trade, if they wish to participate.

February 14, 2020 Newsletter

Dear Parents,

Happy Valentine's Day!  I can't believe that winter break is already upon us!  The last month and a half went by very fast!

We had a lot of fun celebrating Valentine’s Day today and attending our school-wide SOAR Assembly (highlighting outstanding effort and acts of kindness).  We have enjoyed making our special Valentines projects and everyone certainly enjoyed opening all their valentines.  Mrs. Sullivan and I want to thank you all for all the valentines and special treats!

After vacation we will begin our fine arts unit where the children will creatively paint, draw, sculpt, and build works of art for our Kindergarten Museum (featuring artwork from the seven different continents).  Our Museum will be open for parents to visit on Friday, April 3rd (around 9am).  You won’t want to miss it!  More information will be going home later on but I want to make sure you mark it on your calendars!  I think you will be amazed at the artwork your children will produce!

The students spent a lot of time during the past couple of weeks learning about persuasive writing.  I put all their persuasive writing together and sent it home in their blue folders today.  Included were the letters they wrote to Ms. P. about getting a class pet and the letters they wrote to you along with a few other things!  I would encourage you to sit down with your children and have them read their writing to you.  They worked very hard on it and should be proud of their work! 

We will be transitioning to narrative writing after the break.  Students will be writing about themselves and things/events that have happened in their lives (birthdays, field trips, new experiences, etc.).  I am anxious to see how their writing will evolve over the next couple of months!

We will be celebrating our 100th day of school on Tuesday, February 25th.  Students are encouraged to bring in 100 objects from home to practice counting that day.  The objects should be put in a baggie labeled with their names.  All objects should be non-edible. 

I sent information home today about using ST Math at home.  The laminated badge students use to log in can stay at home.  I would encourage you to check it out and encourage your child to use it when he/she can.  It’s a great way to practice the math skills they are learning at school! 

I would also encourage you to continue working on the sight words and subtraction fluency facts with your children.  We will be checking on their progress in the coming weeks after vacation.

I sent the parent conference schedule home earlier this week.  If you can’t make the time I gave you, let me know and we can reschedule!  I am looking forward to showing you some of your child’s work and telling you about all the wonderful things they are doing in the classroom!

We use Scholastic Let’s Find Out in the classroom.  You have probably seen them come home.  I wanted to tell you how to access the online resources.  The website is www.scholastic.com/lfo.  Click on “log in” and then on “I am a student.”  The password is kindergarten115.  When you click on the issue you want, students can read the magazine, play the game, watch a video, and have access to other resources.

I will be putting together the March volunteer calendar.  If you are interested in volunteering, please email me with the day(s) you would like to come in and I will add you to our calendar.  The volunteer time is from 10:10-10:55am.

Have a wonderful winter break!

Melanie Duncan

P.S...Please be sure to check the students’ backpacks and folders.  Vacation is a great time to clean them all out!